The FWC showed love to hunters in certain counties within Zone A. The ranch I hunt occasionally in Sarasota will benefit. Zone A includes some of the earliest rut dates in the country, but on that place the prime breeding time is from mid-October to November, more in line with counties to the north. The season dates for Zone A closed during some of the best hunting, rightly upsetting some. Those in charge spent a couple of years collecting harvest data to support their argument. Seems their efforts have been rewarded.

From FWC:

“Currently, the boundary line between hunting zones A and C is State Road 70, which runs west to east from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean, just above Lake Okeechobee. Hunting seasons and dates in Zone A, below S.R. 70, come in earlier and end earlier than they do in Zone C, which lies above the line.

Hunters had noted, and recent biological surveys have confirmed, that deer living below the zonal line in the counties of Sarasota, St. Lucie, Martin and Palm Beach have a breeding period that occurs later than that of most of the deer in Hunting Zone A. These deer actually have a breeding period more in line with deer living north of the line in Zone C. The breeding period, also known as ‘the rut,’ is the time of year when bucks actively pursue female deer, which more often leads bucks to venture out during daylight hours, giving hunters a better chance at seeing and harvesting one.

It is because of this that a number of local hunters asked the FWC to move the boundary line between hunting zones A and C, so that all or parts of these counties would instead be included in Hunting Zone C, which has the later hunting season dates that better align with when the rut occurs in these areas.

The new boundary line between hunting zones A and C will begin at the Gulf and run east through Charlotte Harbor and up the Peace River until it intersects with S.R. 70. The boundary line then becomes S.R. 70, continuing east until it meets U.S. 441 north of Lake Okeechobee. The line then follows U.S. 441 south, where it proceeds around the eastern shore of Lake Okeechobee, then turns east and follows County Road 880 and runs just a few miles before continuing east on U.S. 98/441/S.R. 80/Southern Boulevard until it reaches the Atlantic.”

In addition, next season the daily bag limits for turkey increases from 1 to 2 on private lands, though the season limit will remain 2.

“In the rule amendment regarding the increased daily bag limit for turkeys, the daily harvest limit per hunter will increase from one bearded turkey or gobbler per day to two on private lands. This is a statewide change and will affect both the fall and spring turkey hunting seasons. Only the daily bag limit will increase; the season limit for turkeys will remain at two birds.

That means hunters may still only take a total of two turkeys during the fall (all fall seasons combined) and another two during the spring season, but what changes is that hunters will have the option and flexibility of getting their season limit of two birds in a single day. However, on wildlife management areas, the daily bag limit on turkeys will remain at one bird.”

All of these changes will take place for the 2014-15 season – don’t shoot two gobblers in the same day until then.

About This Blog

Ian Nance is a lifelong resident of Central Florida with a passion for hunting and just about anything related. Associate Member of the Florida Outdoor Writers Association. Check back weekly for hunting stories, news, tips, and wild game recipes. Feel free to leave comments or e-mail topics you would like to see addressed here. Contact at inance880@aol.com or follow on Twitter @good_hunt